Shadows of Memories
by KyoKyon
Summary: Life is never fair. Naruto knows that more than anyone else and despite what everyone thinks, pain is nothing new to him. Sasuke is a pain he chooses for himself as he slowly but surely steps closer to what he can achieve. Series of one shots.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_He took there, on his tip toes, trying to keep still as the chair wobbled dangerously. With skilled precision, the little boy managed to keep from toppling onto the hard cement floor. Small chubby hands perched on the window sill, keeping a tight grip just in case the chair decided to spill. At least he would be hanging onto the window, cushioning his fall even by a little. _

_Blond spiky hair barely peeped out of the window as the child attempted to peek out yet stay hidden. From where he stood, he could see his breath mist up the dirty window pane. Wiping it childishly, he only to managed to leave smudgy prints instead. But he did not care as he took in the view that he never grew tired of. _

_The small window of the flats just across his own gave him a view of the kitchen. A woman was smiling and the child could see her mouth moving as she twisted towards someone unseen, smiling. He imagined her voice would be soft and her laughter would ring like the wind chimes he sometimes heard when the wind was blowing softly. She laid out the plates she had been carrying and soon, the lonely child knew that a man would come towards the small table that they had followed by two children around his age. _

_He knew the small children from the playground where he would goof around, making them laugh as he pretended to be clumsy and goofed around. He knew when sunset was nearly upon them, the time he dreaded most, their father would come to take home. He knew the man's voice was deep and stern and he would always pretend not to see the cold look thrown towards his direction. _

_True enough, the children were now sitting on the chairs around the table and the man came into view, his hands on the woman's shoulder and his mouth moving in a silent speech. His head turned towards the window as he made his way around to the sink located just in front of their window and the small peeping child panicked. Quickly, he ducked down, forgetting that he was standing on the wobbly chair and he fell with a great crash. _

_The small child lay on the cold floor, the only source of light in his apartment coming from the window he had been peeping from, disoriented. The pain of landing on his side blurred his vision and his head throbbed. _

_His chin wobbled as his vision blurred and he felt the tears in his eyes. The pain from his fall was negligible. The pain in his heart hurt more. Clutching his chest, he curled up, the tears squeezing past his closed lids. Hot tears streamed down his chubby cheeks, stubborn and burning as his lips wobbled. _

_He wanted all of that! It was not fair! He wanted someone to love him. He wanted a father who would pick him up when he was tired. He wanted a mother who would cook warm meals for their family and sing songs for him on nights when he had nightmares. He wanted a father's stern approval when he did good and scold him when he did wrong. He wanted to come home to a warmly lit home. He wanted to hear the welcoming greeting when he came back home. He just wanted people who loved him and people who would never let him go._

_All he knew was this cold apartment and this loneliness. _

_The lonely little child curled up into a smaller ball under the dim light coming from the window and he let himself cry because he was always alone and he didn't know why._

Naruto woke up, tasting the ashes of his past in his mouth, lingering bitterly. The view of white ceiling of his apartment which had greeted him ever since he could recall hit him like a wall. The corner of his eyes felt crusty as he blinked. Rubbing at his eyes, he felt the lingering wetness from his dream. Cursing softly, he rolled out of the bed, eyes straying towards the window where he had once peeped from, the memory mocking him.

Tearing his eyes from the window, the dream of the memory lingering _(aching, tearing, bleeding)_ his eyes instead fell to the little inconspicuous notebook at his chipped bedside table. Opening it, he let his eyes fall onto the words, sighing as he read through it. Done, he shut it softly, hands clenching a bit too tightly for a moment on the little pieces of paper bound together.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the dream _(memory, his mind whispered softly)_ away, locking the little boy who longed so painfully for a family in the deep recess of his heart.

Jumping up suddenly, he grinned widely, ready to tackle on the day. If the edges of his smile wobbled for a moment, he pretended not to feel it. If his hands trembled softly over the little window sill _(it had always been so tall when he was younger, an insurmountable distance to his eyes), _he pretended he was brushing off the dust.

He was here, another new day and he could no longer afford to look back to the sad and lonely boy he had been. Right now, he had another day to conquer and for the moment, for today, it was enough. It was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The edges of the book felt foreign to him as he pondered over the words printed on it. His eyebrows were squeezed in a look of great concentration and determination. The whisper of another page being turned was like a great cheer of victory as he defeated another page.

Shoulder tensed as his eyes swept past the lines, his teeth worrying his lower lips. Iruka watched as the boy (_not a boy, a man now, he thought sadly)_ pour over the thick books like he was drowning and the words were the only thing keeping him from drowning. He couldn't help but feel amused. This was the boy who had played countless pranks and truants when he was still in school to get out of reading books or generally even doing anything academic, always hungering for action and now he was grown up and _pouring _over thick books he would never even have looked at, perhaps used it as a weapon instead.

Amusement slowly faded into nostalgic sadness, eyes sweeping on the form of the nearly hunching Naruto. Naruto had grown up from a loud obnoxious boy into a determined man and Iruka had no idea when the small boy had disappeared to leave behind this strangely sad _(Naruto thought he had hidden it well behind his smiles) _man.

"Iruka-sensei?"

He broke off from his pensive thoughts, startled from the sudden call of his name. Naruto was looking at him, frowning quizzically, shoulders finally relaxed.

"What're you doing here?" Naruto asked still frowning but looking slightly comical as he had a smudge of ink over his chin.

Iruka broke into a grin and held up the plastic bag on his right hands. Naruto's face broke into a brilliant smile.

"Ramen?! You're the greatest, Iruka-sensei!"

As Naruto almost ran towards him, hands greedily helping remove his load, Iruka smiled tenderly, letting his blabber of words wash over him comfortingly. No matter how tall Naruto grew, no matter how much Naruto's voice deepened, no matter how his smiles were sometimes laced with sorrow, Naruto would always have the shadow of the small adorable child who had always cheered up when treated to Ichiraku ramen and had begged him if he could try on his hitaite.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sasuke blinked slowly, his blurred vision refusing to right itself. The white blob above him stayed the same shapeless blob. The whiteness of the blob looked vaguely familiar and he was unsurprised when he felt the too stiff material beneath him rustle uncomfortably as he attempted to move his hand to rub at his eyes. He was vaguely unsurprised when his right hand refused to move, a stiff click greeting him. Experimentally, he tried to move left hand and was equally not surprised when the same stiff click greeted his ears. He was chained somewhere, he realized, his brain slowly gearing up.

It didn't worry Sasuke the slightest that he was staring at a white blob above him and that his limbs seemed to greet him with dry clicks. He supposed nothing much ever surprised him anymore. Closing his eyes, he patiently waited. Something had to give sooner or later and it would not be him.

……………

Endless time passed _(to Sasuke, time had ceased to lose its meaning)_ and finally the soft push of a door alerted him to a new presence. Eyes still closed, he remained steady. After all, he would know that chakra signature anywhere. He had spent almost all his genin days being exposed to that familiar chakra, although it made his right eyebrow rise mentally at _which_ chakra signature it was rather than the presence itself.

Stabbing clogs made its way towards where he lay. By now he had correctly deduced where he was. After all, he had ended up at the place where he never wanted to return to. This place had always been betrayed him.

The thick silence continued and neither occupant made a sound, a strange competition playing out between two former team mates. Finally the girl (_did she remain a girl dreaming of a fairytale in a world where fairytales consisted of broken bones and echoes of blood?)_ moved away, her clogs sharply fading off and not a word was exchanged as the door closed again.

Sasuke never bothered to open his eyes.

……………

_It took him weeks to realize that his vision was permanently going to be affected from the overuse of the Sharingan. And he was sharply, vindictively glad that the last Uchiha bloodline was ending with him before the thoughts washed away in the bitter calmness of acceptance. His vision was forever going to veer sharply and randomly into the blobs he had first seen when he woke in Konoha. He didn't mind though. It sickened him to look at the faces of his childhood, so familiar and so unwanted._

_Sakura still refused to talk to him, not that he cared or even, god forbid, minded. Silence was the new black, it seemed. The Godaime was formally polite even though Sasuke could sometimes see the mad urge to simply break him (physically, he assumed). The shadow of her former teammate, Orochimaru would forever be walking behind him, a price he had willingly paid to gain forbidden knowledge._

_His bones healed slowly, tenderly and many evenings found the last Uchiha simply waiting in the setting dusk, the hospital bed covered in the dying rays of the sun. Windows open, letting the chilly air blast in, not caring that his skin felt as pale and cold as death. In those moments, Sasuke allowed himself the peace of knowing that another day in this hateful place was over._

_Kakashi had told him that it would take months, almost years before his bones would be full healed but even then he would always be susceptible to having it broken again with the simplest of taijutsu combat. And in that, it spelled the end of Sasuke's growth, Kakashi's trademark orange book balanced between his right fingers, blithely ignoring his former pupil's dead gaze. _

_Oh, he was not defenseless by any means. After all, he had a host of jutsus to fall back on. The last Uchiha was anything but defeated. Sasuke simply accepted things as they were. What was left but the ashes of the past long gone by? He had achieved everything he had wanted, no needed, and he was not going to regret anything (but sometimes he saw his beloved dead brother's eyes spinning into the oblivion of death when the truth had set Itachi free but left him with so much regrets and anger). _

_He was perfectly content to this life of a doomed prisoner, hated in the world he was dragged back into but not caring one single bit. He simply waited now, for death, for eternity, for nothing and that was all he was content with. _

_Sometimes he dreamed of feeling the rushing thrill of having Danzou's blood flowing through his hands, the final justification of everything that had happened in his life. To Danzou, he had meted out his wrath, his hate and his regrets of stealing his brother with his stupid, petty scheming. _

_If it was a good night, he would dream of his brother. The regrets and the grief would flow into him as dream Itachi would softly speak to him in a soundless black and white movie. And when he woke, he would bottle those feelings lovingly, storing them deep inside himself where nothing could possibly penetrate so that he could greedily covet something of the only person who had loved him so much as a child and even when he had not been a child._

_Sakura and Kakashi would visit regularly and the silence would be long and arduous. The dry flip of a book would break the heaviness. Sasuke sometimes wondered why they had come at all. Was it to see if he was still the same genin boy they had known so long ago? If so, Sasuke would have gladly broken his silence to tell them to stop looking but they never did break the silence. And Sasuke was content to wait out the stupidity. _

"Naruto is studying to be the next Hokage," the random words simply penetrated into the stillness and Sasuke simply blinked, not tearing his eyes off from the tiny sparrow perched on his window sill.

He could feel Sakura's nervous fluctuating chakra. He wondered vaguely if he was supposed to give a damn.

"Tsunade-sama had him so busy that he barely has the time to even sleep. After the incident with Danzou, she did not want to take another chance of letting the title of Hokage fall into treacherous hands. She had a tough time with the council but it helps now that Naruto has grown so much in power and affluence. He…has changed a lot since you last saw him, Sasuke," Sakura trailed off, looking at Sasuke's back. And he had yet to acknowledge her or her words.

Sakura sighed softly. Unfolding her fingers from the tight grip she had kept them on the underside of the chair she had been sitting on, she let herself stand. Walking towards the door, she let her fingers caress the door knob before stopped.

"He never stopped trying, you know. Right till the end, he fought for you. He fought to get you back where you belonged. He really has changed, Sasuke. He has learned to fight with his words, not his fists. And in the end, all of it was for you," Sakura managed to choke out the words, her eyes burning with unshed tears, lips barely opening to let the words out before she hastily rushed off, slamming the door unintentionally.

Sakura leaned against the wooden door, her breathing shaky, eyes closed. She refused to let the tears fall. Everything felt so wrong, so off. The passing years had been kind to her compared to what Naruto and Sasuke had gone through. Pressing her hand on her heart, she bit her lips harshly as the intense ache of sadness and nostalgia cut through her. Nothing would be the same anymore. Pushing herself off the door, she opened her eyes, brilliant emerald eyes gleaming with unshed tears and determination.

She had also changed, no longer a weakling. She would fight alongside her teammates even if they were so far away and one day, she would reach them.

……………..

Days passed, turning into weeks and then months. Sasuke stayed languishing in the hospital bed, healing. Every morning he would wake to the white ceiling then proved to stare out the window as the dawn slowly emerged. Pinkish morning would fade into brilliant sunshine and then pass into the bleeding dusk. Sometimes it rained. He would trail the droplets of rain falling down the window pane, his mind so flawlessly blank, thoughts sealed into the vast emptiness that was called him.

His casts came off and he was no longer a prisoner chained to the bed. He was able to move (_hobble, you mean, his mind sneering_) around the room. Relishing the burning of his muscles, he would push himself to walk round and round the room, nearly driving himself insane with the dizzy monotonous actions. No nurse came to check on him after his casts were off, not that they had even bothered much before that. Checking on him when meal times were due and that was the most to which they provided care for him. He preferred it that way actually, relishing the solitude of the room. It made him forget that he was in Konoha.

He was not actually stupid enough to think he was left unmonitored. After all, the subtle flare of the ANBUs' chakra was indication enough that he was being closely monitored. He knew that the ANBU were purposely letting him detect their chakra as a sort of warning (_as if he was stupid enough to try and escape in his casts)_ to him.

Ignoring those subtle chakra threads was easy enough as he felt his muscles burn as he went through basic taijutsu movements. Sweat trickled down his brow and the back of his neck as he carefully and purposefully went through the strengthening movements. His muscles screamed and burned but he still pushed himself to the limit knowing that he was going to be nearly passed out by the time dusk came.

The first few times he had done the exercises, he had passed out on the bed, nearly missing it by inches by mid-day, his muscles giving out on him, an indication of how _weak_ he had become throughout his recuperation. He had nearly vomited sometimes as his stomach squirmed at the sudden increase of activity but slowly he had adjusted. Now he could last till the end of the day before collapsing onto the bed, sweaty but grimly proud. And the same cycle would continue the next day.

Kakashi and Sakura had ceased their visiting by then, drawing it out to a weekly meet of sorts where Sasuke would ignore them as he practiced his form precisely. And so Sasuke would count a week gone when they appeared to visit (_disturb was more of the better description_).

After eight of those weekly visits, when Sasuke had been lazily sipping his bitter green tea, the only form of comfort he would allow himself, the door opened one afternoon to admit a former blond teammate.

After seven months, six days, two hours and fifty-nine seconds, his knuckle head of a teammate finally showed up after he first woke up this room. Not that he was counting.

And like everything else, he greeted the surprise with his trademark 'Hn'.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Naruto really was the number one surprising ninja. He did not enter the room with a big bang pronouncing that he had managed to bring the bastard back (which he technically did not since it was Sakura and Kakashi whom had nearly broken his damn bones) nor did he start off with an angst drilled opening.

It was almost like an everyday occurrence. Naruto simply opened the door and stood there looking as he always did _(but he had changed, he looked…sadder)_ and simply, without fanfare, he stepped back into Sasuke's life.

Sasuke watched him from the corner of his narrowed eyes, following his movements warily. The blond was taller now than he had been since he had last seen him (_him standing tall and looking down at Naruto's pained face as Orochimaru smirked beside him)_, his hair almost shaggy and longer, falling past his shoulder. Sasuke felt a maddening urge to laugh, his thought filled with irony as he realize exactly whom the hairstyle could have nearly resembled (_a long dead pervert and a forgotten but beloved Hokage_) if not for the simply fact that Naruto had tied the back of his longer hair in a small ponytail, giving him an almost feminine look. Azure eyes looked wearier and tired stared back at him. His baby fat had all but melted off him and he no longer looked like a pubescent boy Sasuke had once known. The whiskers around his cheeks were more prominent now, almost like someone had taken a calligraphy brush and carelessly woven the scars onto his face, giving him an almost feral look (_Kyuubi, Kyuubi_).

Sasuke was slightly irked to note that Naruto almost reached his tall frame. He had been taller than the other boy before and even though he knew it was petty, he hoped that he would still be taller than Naruto.

Naruto, dressed in a surprisingly somber black shirt and pants, entered the room, his footsteps barely audible (_just like how a good ninja should be_). The click of the door was loud compared to the footsteps. Sasuke stopped his kata and gave up the pretense of focusing, choosing to watch his childhood teammate (_a friend from so long ago, when he had still been learning to breathe in loneliness_) choose to sit on the only chair the room was provided with.

The silence stretched and yawned as Naruto watched Sasuke watch Naruto.

"Sasuke," the husky voice broke out, nearly startling Sasuke with the smoothness of the tone. Where had the high pitched annoying near scream voice gone to?

"You're back."

"Hn," Sasuke snorted in contempt (_Who came back? More like was dragged back by persistent demons from the past_).

A small smile bloomed onto Naruto's tired face (_and suddenly, he looked like the shadow of the boy he had once been_).

"Still the same damn bastard I see. Glad to see the pole up your ass is still lodged there. Some things never change, do they?" Naruto snorted, grinning more widely now, almost looking fondly at Sasuke.

Sasuke did not deign to answer at all. Instead, Sasuke gracefully sat on his bed, his pose strangely relaxed, his feet tucked under his thigh.

_Some things would always remain the same. The fact that he was a bastard and Naruto a dobe would always remain the same just as his eyes would always be colored with tinges of bleeding red from his ruined eyes and that Naruto's eyes would always reflect the open sky on the brightest day._

"I'm sure you did not come here to simply gawp at me, dobe," Sasuke cut into the small meaningless chit chat he was sure that Naruto would delve into. Naruto simply looked at him, grin fading slightly as he contemplated Sasuke's words. He gave a small nod.

"Stay with me, Sasuke."

_And Sasuke was strangely unsurprised by how inappropriate the words were. He felt like laughing at the words that Naruto had uttered. What sort of question was that? No, not even a question, what sort of statement was that?! _

"I need you with me, Sasuke."

_Strange how Naruto was uttering words he would have choked on when he was younger. He would have run naked through the streets of Konoha than say those four words ever in his lifetime and here he was, looking unlike himself and so somber uttering those words. Sasuke wondered if he was dead._

"Only you can give me what I need at this critical time."

_A little bit of brains? A little bit of anger? A whole lot of bitter betrayal and a lifetime of regrets?_

"I need power."

_And Sasuke felt his world unravel slowly as the words sank in. He felt like…he was not sure what it would feel like to cry. He had long ago since stopped crying. He supposed he felt like he wanted to open his mouth and let out all the sour grief pour out at how the world was changing, how Naruto was changing. The one person who had never sought power even when he could have had the world at his feet was finally succumbing to the sweet siren called power._

"I need anger."

_Mine was not up for sale. You always were too forgiving, Naruto._

"I need resolve."

_And on a day long ago, you promised to be a ninja with his own nindo, never to end up like Zabuza or Haku._

"And why should I help you?" Sasuke broke in, looking intently at Naruto, eyes narrowed into slits.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Naruto breathed in the calm, cool and crisp air of the autumn. Shoulders pushed back as he tried to breathe in all the calmness he could muster, letting the air escape with a slight hiss.

Today, he was going to visit Sasuke in the hospital after almost months of avoiding him. He hoped he had managed to gather all his resolve, his words and crush all the other conflicting emotions when he thought about Sasuke.

His footsteps were heavy as it walked down the corridor towards Sasuke's room. Fingers tightened briefly on the door knob before he pushed it open. He didn't want to lose his courage.

There was no fan fare, no sound of tense music playing in the background as he stood there in the room. He was in same room as Sasuke, his once best friend _(who had never stopped mattering, who he had never given up on; the words escaping in his thoughts before he pushed it aside) _and he had to fight to keep his resolve, to harden. He came here for one purpose only and he did not want to blow this or put his foot in his mouth as he always seemed to do with Sasuke.

Sasuke never stopped his kata, muscles glistening with sweat as he moved purposefully. Even now, with his bloodline failing him, even with his near brush with death, he was still powerful and Naruto knew never to underestimate this man. He was like a caged panther. He may be contained but once he felt weakness, he would strike would no mercy. He still had claws and fangs after all, Naruto smiled bitterly, struck by just how _literal_ those words were _(black wings unfurling, poisonous lips curled in a smirk, black claws swiping towards him as the sharp shrill of lightning and the hissing of compressed wind sliced through the air)_.

His back now facing Naruto, he performed the last of his kata and Naruto let his eyes sweep his back, noting the various scars and still healing scratches almost clinically. He let Sasuke take his time, not rushing into the familiar routine of bickering words. He would let Sasuke have control over how this conversation was going to start, for now, he just had to be patient _(a virtue he had never learned to control until it was too late and too much was at stake)_. He was startled when he realized that he had been staring a bit too intensely at Sasuke. Cursing himself silently, he stepped forward. Forget about letting Sasuke start the conversation. If Sasuke had his way, they would be here forever and he just didn't have _the time._

"Sasuke," he called out, his voice huskier than he had intended.

Sasuke looked at him finally, the last motions of his kata done and standing there, strangely looking relaxed.

"You're back," Naruto stated, kicking himself mentally for the lame start. Sasuke let out his trademark "Hn" and Naruto let out a small grin at how some things would never hopefully change.

Sasuke walked over to the bed and gracefully sat on the bed, looking as arrogant and proud as a king rather than a recently injured missing nin wanted in almost the entire ninja world.

"Still the same damn bastard I see. Glad to see the pole up your ass is still lodged there. Some things never change, do they?" Naruto said, grinning more widely as he stepped closer to the bed, watching Sasuke watch him.

"I'm sure you did not come here to simply gawp at me, dobe," Sasuke snorted out, the tone of his voice so achingly familiar, as if the years of betrayal, blood and pain had never occurred.

At those words, Naruto collected himself. He knew why he was here and he reluctantly pulled himself out of the pretense of the past never happening. He knew the years that they had spent growing into the men they currently were would always stand in between them.

Straightening himself subtly, he looked straight into those eyes which had tinges of bleeding red in them and nodded.

"Stay with me, Sasuke."

_His careful words spilled out, the words he had heard himself practice in front of the mirror every morning for months in anticipation of using the right words._

"I need you with me, Sasuke."

_He knew Sasuke despised weakness. He knew that Sasuke would never hesitate to use weakness against him and Naruto's need for Sasuke was something he would never hesitate to use against him and in blatantly confessing, admitting his need, he was giving Sasuke the perfect weapon._

"Only you can give me what I need at this critical time."

_It wasn't just a statement. He really meant it. He was putting himself in a vulnerable position even suggesting this to Sasuke but he had already been betrayed by Sasuke once, twice, thrice. What would once more matter? The need for Sasuke was a double edged sword but he was willing to bleed for Sasuke so he would willingly grasp the sharpness cutting into him. _

"I need power."

_I need to keep you safe and to fulfill that need, Naruto thought desperately. The power to keep Sasuke safe, the power to pretend that I am not desperately trying to keep my head above the water. Only with you Sasuke, I can keep the will to be strong because I will never want to lose to you._

"I need anger."

_Bleed your avenger into me, Sasuke._

"I need resolve."

_It had never been forgotten, his resolve. It was curled up at the side, waiting, waiting, waiting to pounce and Naruto knew his resolve could only be tempered beautifully by Sasuke, honing it and aiming it with deadly accuracy instead of being blasted all over the place._

"And why should I help you?" Sasuke broke in, looking intently at Naruto, his eyes narrowed into slits.

_And here was the crux of the problem._

"You are wanted in almost all of the ninja hidden villages. Because you are Konoha's responsibility now, they have reigned in their nin hunter but once you are out of Konoha's jurisdiction, you are free game."

"I'm surprised you even know how to use the word 'jurisdiction'. Been rifling through the dictionary, dobe?" Sasuke sneered.

"A new vocabulary is not the only new thing I have acquired, Sasuke," Naruto shot back, matching his sneer with a smirk.

The room filled with tension and unsaid words.

"I will require your services for two years as my personal advisor and then I will grant you freedom. You will gain Konoha and Sand's alliance. No hunter nin from both villages but I cannot guarantee the agreement of our non-allies but then there would not be many there would not be allied with Konoha by the time I am Hokage."

Sasuke mulled over the words, eyes sharp with distrust.

"And if I choose to refuse this 'offer'?"

"You know what happens, Sasuke," Naruto stated simply, shrugging, azure eyes as cold.

Sasuke seemed almost pleased by his words and he stood, almost slithering towards Naruto. Naruto stood still, not tensing, following Sasuke's movements from the corner of his eyes. As Sasuke disappeared behind him, his warm breath ghosting over the shell of his ears, Naruto closed his eyes, savoring the huskiness of Sasuke's voice.

"What happened to the boy who used to plead for me to come back? What happened to those tears and those declarations?"

In a flash, Naruto had grabbed Sasuke's wrists in a tight grip, pulling him closer, the ghost of Sasuke's warmth seeping through his back.

"Whatever I do, I do it for you, Sasuke. I have spent my boyhood feeling your loneliness, spent countless tears on your betrayal, honed my desire to get stronger to catch up to you, trashed by pride to beg for your life. I have not forgotten."

"How noble. Yet the threats, Naruto, hang over me, looming. Keeping me like a faithful pet dog, chained to you in exchange for a life I have no desire in saving?" Sasuke hissed, leaning closer almost nuzzling Naruto's long hair.

"There is no threat, bastard. I know because you will not refuse me. You have refused me your loyalty, our camaraderie for your vengeance but your vengeance has run out Sasuke. You have killed everyone else there is to kill who took part in the betrayal of Itachi and the Uchiha clan. Madara and Danzou are six feet under, probably rotting with maggots feasting their decaying bodies. In the end, Itachi's vengeance is served. What're you going to do, Sasuke?" Naruto almost sang out, eyes spiteful and sly as he turned partially watching Sasuke.

Sasuke sneered, coming close enough to touch their noses together.

"I can always kill you and destroy Konoha," barring his teeth in an almost snarl.

"I am giving you that chance now Sasuke," Naruto whispered, husky voice seductively low, leaning past Sasuke's face, towards Sasuke's ears, dark bangs tickling his nose playfully. Naruto could smell the muskiness of the last Uchiha and the rapidly cooling sweat brushing his senses. He didn't know what they were doing but he was enjoying this game they were playing. After all, their whole lives had been a game for Fate.

His right hand crushing Sasuke's wrist almost painfully, he let his other hand curl at the base of Sasuke's neck almost lovingly, fingers entwining into the dark curls.

"You have the chance to build me up for two years and then when you're given your freedom, you can come and destroy me. That's what you're good at, isn't it, Sasuke? You learnt from on of the best after all. You spent almost all your life building and then destroying. Almost my whole life I have spent building around your betrayal, running after you and we've always been worlds apart. Take one last pleasure in destroying me, Sasuke. After all, we've always been connected whether it be by blood or by our past."

And with those whispered words, Naruto let Sasuke go, hands falling back towards his side. He knew his words were poisonously seductive and he was _not_ blind to what Sasuke was like contrary to what others always believed him to be. Sasuke liked challenges, _loved_ the art of destroying a person, He would be no different now. Just like Sasuke knew what buttons to push with him, he knew what buttons to push for Sasuke.

Naruto had grown up from the boy he had been. He still bled red but this time he _chose_ where he bled and Sasuke was a cut he would willingly bleed for.

_Sometimes he felt maybe the Kyuubi had infected him with this blood thirstiness, this strangeness, these strange masochistic tendencies through the red burning chakra he had been using through the years but he thought not. This was a lesson he had learnt and Naruto would admit that one thing that had always been constant in his life was pain, so maybe this was nothing new. He was simply smarter in choosing his source of pain nowadays and Sasuke would do nicely._

Naruto walked towards the door, strangely pleased. This new Naruto intrigued Sasuke. The old Naruto had tendrils of nostalgia connecting their souls together and no matter how Sasuke denied those bonds, they existed. Now their connection would not be denied. After all, they had childhood dibs on who could kill the other. Sasuke had been his first rival and that would always stand. _His first friend who acknowledged him, his first kiss, his first betrayal, his first fist through his heart, his first team._

Naruto felt the barest tendrils of Kyuubi's chakra seeping into his eyes, feeling his vision sharpen and his pupils dilate and he forced his thoughts down. Nowadays, it wasn't a good thing when Kyuubi's chakra made its presence felt. In the back of his head, he could feel the fox howl through his head, no words heard just a chilling howl resonating in him and he thought maybe, maybe the fox had a small influence on his hidden masochistic tendencies.

_Naruto knew his eyes were flashing crimson orange, dilating his pupils like a fox and he beat down the chakra, forcing it down and locking it down as best as he could._

His shoulders were tense from that mini battle. He was hoping Sasuke would not have noticed his slight slip there but he doubted it. Thankfully his face was hidden, more importantly; his eyes had been hidden from the Uchiha.

Opening the door, he stopped for a moment at the door. His voice was soft now, all traces of earlier huskiness and seductiveness completely wiped out.

"Itachi Uchiha's body had been brought back and he was cremated. I'm sorry if you wanted to attend the funeral but then I couldn't exactly invite you seeing you were busy trying to destroy Konoha. His ashes is with me, waiting to be reclaimed. I figured I should keep him safe for you. His name has been carved into the memorial stone."

And Naruto walked out, not waiting for Sasuke's reaction.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sasuke felt the coldness nip at him but he didn't care. The thin black pants and shirt (_Sakura had provided him with basic colored clothes weeks before and the missing emblem he had worn all his life hit him but then beggars couldn't be choosers, could they?)_ was doing nothing to keep the coldness of the crisp autumn, almost winter, air nipping at him.

He was standing there at this ungodly hour in front of the memorial stone, the tiny hints of dawn shyly peeking behind him. The silence was peaceful and Sasuke was not worried about anyone catching him here. After all, no one was stupid enough to visit this area (_blithely ignoring the hint that he had maybe called himself stupid)_.

Scratch that.

The whisper of a page being turned was the only sound that broke the peaceful air. Sasuke's eyes simply paused for a while in his endless combing of the memorial stone before resuming his search again.

"Hmmm, you're not going to find his name like that you know," the nonchalant comment cut in. Sasuke simply ignored him, pretending he didn't hear that voice.

Sasuke simply continued searching, painstakingly and carefully reading the names, ignoring the advice. His eyes blurred at the edges again and he was forced to stop for the moment. His eyes were feeling strained and reading those small words on the stone was not helping. He felt a heavy pounding behind his eyes and he closed his eyes, felt as the moisture gathered beneath his lids to try and lessen the dryness.

Opening his eyes, he was mildly irritated as his vision seemed to be more blurred. Not giving up, he simply stepped forward, fingers outstretched, the tips brushing the coldness of the stone, determined to _feel _out the names if he couldn't read it.

His fingers journey was stopped by another set of pale gloved hands and Sasuke slapped Kakashi's hand away, nearly snarling. Kakashi ignored the snarl and instead snagged the edge of Sasuke's sleeve, tugging gently.

"Wait."

"What?" Sasuke almost growled out, flinging his hand away and managing to dislodge his former teacher's fingers. He hated being touched and even that small almost contact was enough to set him at edge.

_Blond hair brushed his nose as he almost nuzzled Naruto. Tanned hands nearly crushed his wrist painfully, his touch burning into his skin. Warmth breath fanned across his neck and ear as Naruto's words washed over him._

Sasuke snarled the memory away, not wanting that idiot to get under his skin even though he _wasn't_ there.

"You're in the way, you know," the almost knowing voice of Kakashi broke through to him. Sasuke glared at his from the corner of his eyes, not bothering to hide his murderous intent, knowing his pupils must be bleeding red because he saw Kakashi as a greenish blob with a silver blob, an orange blob in the middle of it all.

"The sun's coming up. Scoot over and wait for the sun to come up," came the cryptic answer. Sasuke gritted his teeth, temper almost at an edge. The frustration of being caught in this private moment, his failing eyesight and the memory of Naruto teasing him was making him feel murderous. Shifting just the slightest, he sneered at Kakashi. Kakashi was right though, morning was coming and he had to be back in the hospital soon. He didn't want to be caught out of the hospital, waiting to run anyone. He preferred his exiled status right now and dealing with pesky villagers was not his cup of tea.

Sasuke made to leave when Kakashi's irritating voice rang out again.

"Look now," he stated and Sasuke knew he was somehow grinning his infuriating grin.

"_What?!"_ he hissed, snapping his head towards the stone.

And he saw it.

Even through his blurred vision, he could see it. The memorial stone was made such that it would not reflect the sun's rays when morning came so that whoever came to visit would not be blinded by the rays when they were trying to find a particular name. So Sasuke saw it clearly, the dull shine in the midst of the stone, towards the top. He made his way towards the stone, fingers reaching out, brushing at the almost glowing blue blob. His fingers brushed tenderly over the familiar kanji engraved into the stone.

Vaguely he heard, as if from a great distance, Kakashi speak.

"Naruto had them infuse Itachi's name with crystals from his a small part of his necklace a few months back. Tsunade almost killed him, after all he could have used another type of crystal but Naruto was adamant. Something about bonds."

Sasuke fingers brushed over his beloved brother's name, feeling strangely touched. He knew what Naruto was trying to say to him.

"_Whatever I do, I do it for you, Sasuke. I have spent my boyhood feeling your loneliness, spent countless tears on your betrayal, honed my desire to get stronger to catch up to you, trashed by pride to beg for your life. I have not forgotten."_

Naruto's words echoed in his mind.

And Sasuke laughed softly, not caring that Kakashi was nearby, feeling at peace all of sudden. Naruto was right for once. He had never forgotten and he had paid tribute to Itachi's sacrifice for this damn village the best way he could. Sasuke could see Itachi's name in the light now, never in the darkness of Sasuke's mind and his name would be shining in the daylight. Corny but acceptable.


End file.
